What you think does matter

7 habits to motivate children to Learn This year I have worked hard in using the “7 habits” to motivate children to learn and become better children and potentially successful adults in life. The “7 habits” I am referring to are the seven habits found in “the leader in me” book written by well-known author Stephen Covey. The book is good, but I will be honest with you – it’s a bit difficult to read (don’t expect it to be something entertaining - it is not a Harry Potter style book). With that said: I am enjoying the process my Elementary school “Fred Wild Elementary” has undertaken and the direction we are heading. I am going to be honest and transparent as I can without trying to diminish the book. The teaching of (an Mr. Covey alludes to this in several videos he has made) that the 7 habits are not new – it’s not a new thing never before seen. Yes, he presents it in a clear way with some twists and colorful antics – but character, honesty, good work ethics, and ethics in genera...

I watch my daughter and I am afraid she is growing up so fast. Then I watch her fail at something she was working so hard to achieve - when she starts to cry: I see my little girl. Yes it’s odd, I know. But it’s true – and to be honest I couldn’t help but feel good. Our children are always running toward the future at a hundred miles per hour and as a parent (like most parents) I want her to slow down, be a kid and to not be in such a rush to grow up. I know it’s selfish of me, part of the reason I want her to slow down is because I don’t want to lose my little girl, my princess. Even with all the things I do in order to prepare my baby girl for the future – I secretly desire not to lose my little girl. I remember when I was her everything, I was Dad – no I was “SUPER” Dad. Now she is so busy trying to do everything on her own, working so hard to be self reliant, self sufficient, independent – that last one is the one that hurts the most – independent means (to a Dad) she no longer ne...

Florida sink hole swallows up Orlando Florida Hotel - OMG! It was bad enough hearing about the story of the man who was swallowed up alive by a Florida sink hole that formed beneath his home - but this is getting crazy. This all has me worried, I just noticed my neighbors lawn and the have barriers up to keep people away from a large deep hole that has formed in their front yard - that is all I need, that is way to close to my home. Check out the video below. 

Creating a Video for Book Promo: using Animoto When most people have free time they usually relax - right? No not me, I go looking for something to do or to learn. As it goes I ran across and interesting video at my wife's job as I helped clean out the studio room of the school and so, I tried to figure out how the system worked. The video was a cool presentation about a special event that was held at the end of last year. I was so impressed with the video I took note of the company that was used to create the video: Animoto.com. It's an interesting way to create fun short or long videos (I mention short because if you want to use the free service you can only create 30 sec videos). The pricing is: you can create 30 sec videos for free, 10 min. videos for $5 a month and 20 min at HD for $39 a month. It's pretty easy to use - no one should find it difficult to use. Of course having some free time on Saturday, I took the time to figure out how to use the web site...